Welcome to Baltimore Yearly Meeting!
Baltimore Yearly Meeting nurtures a vibrant Quaker community across the Mid-Atlantic. BYM unites Friends from 50 Quaker meetings and worship groups throughout Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
Together at BYM Friends we
Strengthen Local Meetings
The monthly meeting is the beating heart of everything we do. At its core, the yearly meeting is an association of Quaker monthly meetings and other local worshipping communities coming together to support one another. We share a common Faith & Practice - and we share our skills, gifts, spiritual leadings, and resources across local worshipping communities.
Grow in Spirit & Community
Quakers believe that there is “that of God” in every person—an Inner Light that is loving and honest and can lead us to truth and justice. As BYM Friends we gather for Meetings for Worship four times each year to discern the Leadings of the Spirit and to conduct our community business and three more times throughout the year for spiritual formation retreats.
Nurture Youth
BYM has a special commitment to the spiritual, social, and emotional thriving of all young people. Our camps and youth retreats are vibrant, diverse, youth-centered communities. BYM scholarships and grants provide material support to children, families, and child-serving organizations, and the Religious Education Committee connects meetings to resources for nurturing youth.
Connect & Serve as Friends
Working together is an extension of our worship into the practical life of Quakerism. Working together benefits both the wider community and those Friends who participate. We serve together on Committtes, gather for service projects and social witness, and are part of the worldwide body of Quakers - connected to 14 organizations and hundreds of thousands of Friends around the world.
QREC October Conversation Circles
Creating Meeting Cultures that Welcome Diverse Youth and Young Adults
The current disruption in society is shaking the foundations of culture and faith. In the turmoil, youth and young adults from diverse backgrounds may seek spiritual community in Friends Meetings. Families of color in relationship with Friends schools, and children of color who connect with Friends at Quaker camp, may come to monthly and yearly meetings seeking spiritual community. How can Friends’ Meetings embody Martin Luther King’s vision of the Beloved Community?
• How can we prepare our monthly meetings to welcome diverse young newcomers?
• During this time when geography is less of a barrier, how can Friends of color mentor young people who seek community in Quaker meetings?
• How can Quaker religious educators, particularly Friends who identify as white, do the deep personal work of becoming anti-racist?
• What discernment and anti-racism training should be taken by volunteers who work with children and youth?
Registration is required:
Conversation Circles meet online, using Zoom videoconferencing.
Facilitators
• Tuesday -- Nikki Holland, Belize Friends Church, New Association of Friends
• Thursday -- Sita Diehl (Madison WI, Northern Yearly Meeting)
Conversation Starters
• Khalila Lomax: STRIDE, Baltimore Yearly Meeting
• Mila Hamilton: Twin Cities Friends Meeting, Northern Yearly Meeting
• Ten Henson: Guilford College
Suggested Resources
• Black Fire: African American Quakers on Spirituality and Human Rights, Hal Weaver, Paul Kriese, and Steve Angell (Eds.) QuakerPress, 2012
• Fit for Freedom, Not for Friendship, by Donna McDaniel and Vanessa Julye, QuakerPress, 2009
• The Shape We Take: Growing Diverse Leadership in Baltimore Yearly Meeting, by Dyresha Harris, May 2017
• Taking STRIDEs: BYM’s Growing Diverse Leadership Initiative Provides Expanded Opportunities to Live out the Quaker Value of Equality in a World that Badly Needs It, Dyresha Harris, 10.2016
• Clearing the Way for Community, Dyresha Harris, 2017 (Baltimore Yearly Meeting)
• Assessing Racial Inclusion and Justice: A Quaker Meeting Self-Assessment Tool, Friends Meeting of Washington
